Bale-tie cutter



(No Model.)

G. M; ROUNDS. BALE TIB CUTTER.

No. 480,878. Patented Aug. 16, 1892.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE M. ROUNDS, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BALE-TIE CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,878, dated August 16, 1892.

' Application filed April Z, 1892. Serial No. 427.444. (No modal.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. ROUNDS, of the city of Taunton, in the county of Bristol, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Bale-Tie Cutters; andI declare the following to be a specification thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved cutter as seen in the operation of cutting a bale-tie. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, as seen on line 00 cc of Fig. 2.

My invention is a device adapted to cut the met-allie ties or bauds of bales of cotton,wool, or other merohandise.

It consists of a handle provided With an adjustable extension and a fiat elongated and grooved end, which is bent in the are of a circle, in combination With a lever pivotally mounted on said extension and having a eutter at its end t0 traverse in the groove of said handle, as hereinafter particularly described.

In the drawings, A represents the handle of the iniplement, one end of which, as seen at B, is fiattened, elongated, and curved to form a sharp pointed tip. The tip B is longitudinally grooved, as shown at a. An extension or piece C,whose outer end is slotted, as seen at 1), is fastened to the handle A by screws c, the handle being eut away with a shoulder at d, so that the piece 0 rests fiat upon said handle on the upper side thereof. The lever D is mounted in the slot 1) of the extension C by the pivot 6. The end of the lever D is slotted at f, and a rotary cutter E is mounted in said slot f by the pivot g.

The operation of this instrument is as follows: The sl1arp thin edge of the tip B is inserted under the baie-oie F of the bale G, the lever D being then in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. As the arc described by the end of the lever D in its movement is of a less radius than that of the curve of the tip B, and as said radii are not concentric, but eccentric, the cutter E occupies a spaoe above and apart from the tip B when the lever D is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and is not then in contact With the band F, but lies above it for a suificient distance to entirely clear it; but when the lever D is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 the cutter E strikes the edge of the band F and cuts it through and across. The cutter E in severinp; the band enters the groove a of the tip B. The baud F being under great tension, because of the elasticity of the cotton which has been compacted by a hydraulic press or otherwise, as is the custom in the packing of cotton for transportation, and being supported by the fiat surface of the tip B on each side of the groove a, readily yields to the action of the cutter. The leverage of the arm' D exerts a great power to force the cutter into and through the tie, so that the operation is easily and quickly performed.

It will be observed that the lever D may operate in either direction, inward or out- Ward, With equal facility and efiectiveness. If the instrument is in the position shown in Fig. 2 and the tie is in the position ac upon the tip B the lever may be moved'in the direction shown in said figure by the arrow and the tie will be out in two.

The extension Cis a separate piece detachable from the handle for the purpose of adjustment t0 compensate for the wear of the cutter E. \Vhen the cutter is worn down by long-continued use,it Will be necessary to adjust this extension 0 so that the cutter Will better enter the groove aof the tip B. To accornplish this the screws 0 are removed and the plane under surface m of the piece 0 is ground or filed clown. VVhen the piece 0 is chus refitted and the screws c replaced, the cutter E is thereby brought into proper cutting-contact With the tip in the groove thereof.

In order to out the tie of a cottonbale, it is necessary that the tie should be pried up from the cotton snfficiently to enable the cutter to sever the tie. I therefore provide my irnplement With a thin fiat tip and elongate and curve it as shown. The tip is easily inserted beneath the tie and the outer curve furnishes a fulcrum, so that pressure upon the handle exerts a powerful force to raise the tie from the cotton in which it is embedded.

I claim as a novel and useful invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the handle A, having the fiat elongated and curved tip B and the 0, the lever D, pvotafly mounted on said extension a.nd provided With the rotary cutter E, substantially as described.

GEORGE M. ROUNDS. Witnessesz FREDERIC C. COTTRELL, GEORGE H. GOULD. 

